From Tom:
Okay, I want to challenge you with personal action and a question. Firstly, you say you read these; well, prove it, Mike. Respond to my question, and that is what the hell happened to our two-party system? Why is it that this President has few in his own party supporting him. We should not forget that Mitch McConnell could have allowed a Senate vote and this President could have gone on to build the wall we need. But the Senate leader refused, citing a political environment problem –- (bleep), he sold this President out. So prove my cynical brain wrong and write back to me...with your answer about the Republican Party.
From me:
Tom, you do have a cynical brain if you think I don’t read the comments. It’s just impossible to follow up on each one personally, so we try to address a representative few in the newsletter.
As for the two-party system, America’s founders foresaw the hazards of that and did not want it, but that’s the way the political power struggle evolved, and in very short order.
They also wanted to put obstacles in the way of government assuming too much power and acting too quickly, and in that sense they have at least partially succeeded. Even if all the Republicans managed to walk in lockstep, they still would have only a small majority in the Senate. It takes 60 votes, “cloture,” for Sen. McConnell to end a filibuster and get a bill to the floor for a vote, and that requires the defection of some Democrats. That’s the “political environment problem” he was referring to. Under the iron hand of Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, that’s not likely to happen, even with the more moderate “blue dog” Dems, which are an endangered species, as they are increasingly marginalized by rabidly progressive/socialist types such as Kamala Harris and Elizabeth Warren (and, in the House, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who is pushing for primary challenges against all of them).
Interestingly, we’re just starting to see some cracks in the Dems’ armor over this far-far-left celebration of late term abortion/infanticide. It will be interesting to see what happens there. Maybe there is actually an ethical line that a fewDemocrats will not cross. But I digress.
If keeping the Republicans together seems about like herding feral cats, one factor is that certain states just aren’t as conservative as others. That’s the reality –- Maine isn’t South Carolina. The senators we have are the ones who can get elected in their respective states. If we want that to change, then more right-leaning candidates are going to have to run and gain support in more states. It’s going to take a conservative grass-roots effort.
Another factor in this: the Republican politicians who are the most vocally anti-Trump get the most media attention, and they are well aware of that. Jeff Flake knew the CNN cameras would focus on him with adoration whenever he tried to get in the way of “Trump’s wall.” John McCain (rest his soul) knew that he could always count on lavishpraise from the New York Times when he criticized members of his own party. The mainstream media loved him –- until he was actually running for office against a Democrat; then he became the enemy.
Those “never-Trumpers” within the Republican Party need to face reality: even if they find a conservative-enough Democrat to help elect, that person will inevitably end up bowing to the omnipotent leftist leaders in House and Senate. Then they’ll blame Mitch McConnell instead of the “political environment” they themselves helped create. They should imagine when they mark their ballot for ANY Democrat that they are, in effect, marking it for Nancy Pelosi or Chuck Schumer. (If that doesn’t cure them, I don’t know what will.) And they need to work on getting more conservative Republicans into office.
We as individuals have to decide to make a difference. As another reader wrote (see, I read them), “I can lay down and be part of the problem or I can stand up and fight back, even if it’s in a small way.” He felt guilty that he had quit writing his blog and wanted to start back, with more of a promotional push this time. This is the kind of thing we should all do --- especially those of us in more moderately-red states.
LEAVE ME A COMMENT BY CLICKING HERE. I READ THEM!
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